


Nougat

by hit_the_books



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas in the Men of Letters Bunker (Supernatural), Gen, Sam Winchester and Dogs, Team Free Will 2.0
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-22 10:02:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17057711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hit_the_books/pseuds/hit_the_books
Summary: Sam makes an unexpected discovery while out for a run on Christmas Eve.





	Nougat

**Author's Note:**

> Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
> 
> Thank you to the amazing crowleykoh85 for creating the beautiful [art for this story](https://crowleykoh85.tumblr.com/post/181326326010/hi-this-is-the-art-i-did-for-hitthebooks-gen). It's so lovely <3
> 
> And thank you to [Coconutice22](https://archiveofourown.org/users/coconutice22) for betaing this for me.
> 
> Happy Holidays everyone C:

 

A bin lid rolled across Sam’s path and he stopped, breath misting on the air. He paused the music playing through his ear buds and looked to the small alley between the bakery and bookshop he had been passing. It was early morning, Christmas Eve, in Lebanon, Kansas and there was a light dusting of snow still on a few surfaces.

“Yip!”

Sam stepped to the mouth of the alley and pulled out a small flashlight he always kept with him when he ran. He pressed the rubbery black button on its base and examined the alley. There were a few trashcans lined down the side, but not much else.

“Yip!”

Circling closer to the trashcans, Sam bent down and a small, wet black nose came up from between two cans and sniffed the air in front of him. He shone the light at the dog and a dachshund padded out towards him.

The dog’s coat was short and a reddish brown. No collar was on its neck and Sam worried about how cold it was out there in the snow. He held a hand out towards the dachshund and the tiny dog padded closer, sniffed him and then licked his palm. Sam smiled and started to pet the dachshund.

“Now, tell me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think you’re meant to be here, are you?” Sam asked the dog, voice cracking a little with disuse. It was only around six in the morning. He’d waved to Jack and Castiel on the way out of the Bunker for his run, but not really spoken so far that day.

The dachshund gave a snort and a yip and Sam gently eased his hands around it, picking up her (apparently) and opening up the lightweight running jacket he had on. He slipped the tiny dog inside, who almost lunged for the warmth, and then zipped the jacket up so that her tiny head was poking out under his chin.

“Let’s see if Carlson’s Veterinary Practice has anyone in this early, and see if you have a chip?”

“Yip! Yip!”

A tiny tail wiggled near Sam’s stomach and he tried not to giggle as he cradled the dog’s lower legs under his arms. It was too difficult to run with his extra passenger on board, so Sam walked briskly instead, long legs still easily covering the distance.

Each store and home he passed had holiday decorations out—mostly Christmas themed. There was one place near the vets that had a large grouping of dragon ornaments on the lawn, which looked interestingly festive, with little Santa hats on their heads.

A few lights were on at Carlson’s and Sam rapped on the front door. It took a minute for someone to answer, but Sam vaguely recognized the young woman who had come to the door. She was dressed in light mauve scrubs and had bags under her eyes—she was a frequent customer of Lebanon’s most beloved coffee shop. Like Sam. The badge clipped to the front of her scrubs said “Louise”.

“H-hey, how can I help?” Louise yawned.

“Uh, hey,” Sam smiled and looked down at his extra passenger. “Found this one while out on my run. No collar. Was wondering if she had a chip?”

Louise nodded and backed out of the way so Sam and the dachshund could head inside. There was the odd bark and meow from way out back, the night’s guests growing restless and likely hungry. The front reception had its own, artificial, Christmas tree, placed on a table out of the way of many of the vets’ patients.

Wordlessly, Louise led them into an examination room. Sam unzipped his jacket and put the dachshund down on the exam table there.

“Let’s see...” Louise brought out a scanner. Sam gently held onto the dachshund who was happy to lick the salt from his hand.

“Anything?” Sam asked.

Louise shook her head.

Sam frowned and stroked the dachshund. “Have you seen anything on social media about her?”

Louise sighed. “No, and we do keep an eye out for missing pets. But I don’t recognize her or seeing anything about her.”

A little flame of hope leaped up inside of Sam. He could persuade Dean, right? Castiel and Jack would have no trouble with them having an extra bunkmate. Especially one so cute.

“How about, I take a picture of her and share it online, maybe put a sign up for people to see here, and you take her home for now?” Louise suggested.

Sam’s breath caught in his chest. “If you’re sure?”

“We’d have to send her to the pound, anyway. Might as well let the poor thing have a nice Christmas until we find her owner, or if we do...” Louise trailed off.

“Okay… Thank you!” Sam grinned down at the dachshund. “We’re gonna have to find a name for you.”

Louise smiled and took a photo of the dachshund. Then gave her a preliminary look over. The dachshund was perfectly behaved as she was poked and prodded.

Sam looked up to Louise once she was done. “Do you need me to fill in any paperwork?”

Louise smiled. “Well, I know you live up in the old waterworks outside of town… Sam isn’t it?”

“Uh yeah.”

“Well Sam, I’ll just take a cell number and let you know if I hear anything.” She passed him a pad and a pen.

“How long until we give up looking?” Sam asked.

“A month.”

Sam handed Louise his number, allowed himself to be piled up with some bags of dog food, and then he and his new friend were off out into the frigid air outside.

“You’re gonna need a name,” Sam said to the dachshund as they hiked up the hill towards the Bunker. Snow had started to fall again. The Bunker looked homely covered in snow, in comparison to its usual industrial look without snow.

“Yip, yip!” agreed the dachshund.

Sam opened the main door to the Bunker and headed on inside, closing the door behind him. “Not that I want to confuse you, but I’d rather you had a name. Calling you dog or dachshund just seems wrong.”

The stairs down to the war room creaked under Sam and as he reached the bottom, Jack and Castiel appeared from the direction of the kitchen. The dachshund squirmed a little against Sam’s chest, like she was desperate to see everyone.

“Sam?” Castiel asked in a low concerned voice.

“Is that a dog?!” Jack exclaimed, jogging immediately over to Sam.

“Yes. Found her on my run. No collar or chip.”

Castiel got closer and tilted his head as he examined the dog. “She has no owner, I think.”

“What makes you say that?” Sam asked.

“Normally dogs with owners think about them. No such thoughts here. Could be they were so horrible that the dog was glad it was left.” Castiel shrugged. “I’m better at reading cats.”

“Can we keep them?” Jack asked as the dog licked his nose.

Sam gave a short laugh and started to unzip his jacket. “If no one comes for her in a month, we can keep her.”

“Does she have a name?” Castiel asked, drawing closer to the dachshund and its eager inquisitiveness.

“Not that I know of.” Sam stroked her head while cradling her in his arms.

“She’s so small and sweet,” Jack said, letting his face be licked. “How about… Nougat?”

“Yip!”

“Nougat?” Sam repeated.

“Yip, yip!”

“Yeah, Nougat, like the candy.”

“Yip, yip!”

“Ha, she likes that. Nougat, you want some water?” Sam asked and in response, Nougat licked his chin.

Jack carefully brought out a cereal bowl from a kitchen cupboard, filled it with tap water. Castiel made coffee and then the two of them agreed to keep an eye on Nougat while Sam showered and got dressed.

Sam hoped he could persuade Dean about Nougat. She was just so sweet and Sam suspected that no one would be coming for her. Of course he hoped that, but if what Castiel had sensed was anything to go by, then she was lucky for Sam to have found her.

Hurrying through his shower and getting dressed, Sam managed to reach the kitchen and Nougat before Dean woke up. Once Sam was back, he portioned out some kibble for Nougat into a bowl and then finally had his first coffee of the morning.

Once she was done with her food, Nougat insisted on sitting atop Sam’s lap while he checked online for any signs of a hunt. Jack was rooting through a box of Christmas decorations, filled with odds and ends they hadn’t used in decorating the Bunker. Finally, he emerged with a set of Santa hats, all of them were perfectly sized, except for one that had needed to be washed and then shrunk.

But it was just the right size for Nougat. Jack came over and put a hat on Sam’s head and then a hat on Nougat’s head.

“What the hell?!” Dean yelled, making Nougat flinch and scoot up tight against Sam.

“This is Nougat,” Sam said in a level, no-nonsense voice.

“What’s it doing here?” Dean pushed.

“I found Nougat on my run and she doesn’t appear to have any owners. One of the veterinarians in town said I might as well bring her home until we can be sure she doesn’t have an owner… And it is Christmas and she would have just gone to the pound anyway.” Sam stroked Nougat’s back gently, his hand almost engulfing her.

Dean stepped closer, body tensed. Sam got that Dean’s relationship with dogs was slightly complicated by his past Hellhounds experience, but Nougat was tiny.

“Yip!” Nougat booped Sam’s chin with her nose.

Dean frowned, but he tentatively reached out a hand towards Nougat. She turned her head away from Sam and licked Dean’s hand.

“Ha, that tickles,” Dean said and then there was a second of realization as he realized what he’d just said. A blush crept up his cheeks and Sam snorted.

“She’s cute, right?” Jack piped up.

Dean grumbled something under his breath and then said, “You better put something down when she rides in the car. I won’t have her messing up Baby’s seats.”

Nougat barked then and started to wiggle on Sam’s lap. He had an inkling of what she might need and quickly made for outside.

Once the two of them were back in the Bunker, Sam had to help Dean with some gun maintenance. The five of them were in the war room, having fallen into that comfortable silence that usually happened when they weren’t panicking about the potential end of the world. Jack looked for a potential case, Nougat on his lap, napping. Castiel was busy sorting through some notes that needed to be filed away so that they could be easily found again. Winchester Domestic—an aesthetic for sure.

No one found a hunt to check out that wasn’t already being investigated by another member of their band of merry hunters. By the evening they were all ready to just chill out, so they went to Dean’s renovated Dean Cave (now with non-haunted TV) and watched _Die Hard_ and _Die Hard 2_.

It was a good Christmas Eve and Sam couldn’t quite believe how nice a time he was having. Nougat being there was the icing on the cake. She loved cuddles and being talked to. Loved having her ears fussed with.

When Sam finally went to bed, Nougat decided she would stay with him. And Sam was happy to have the company.

On Christmas Day, Sam woke up to his face being licked and the request for a bathroom break. Sam took Nougat outside and let her do her business. Back inside, Dean was up early, prepping a ham he wanted to cook for dinner. And he agreed to keep an eye on Nougat, with Jack’s help, while Sam got sorted for the day.

The morning went by in a whirl of activity until Jack exclaimed, “Time to find out what’s under the tree!” This was once Dean had broken out the eggnog.

Jack patiently passed out presents, and they all opened their gifts, Nougat snuffling around gift paper and wagging her tail. Sam smiled when Nougat got her own gift, Dean or Castiel must have got it for her when they did a beer run the previous day.

From under the tree came a new wrench set for Dean and a second hand copy of _Houses of the Holy_ , because Dean’s previous copy had gotten dropped by accident some months ago. Castiel received a new tie, and a Christmas sweater. Sam got a new leather satchel and a pair of Christmas socks. And Jack received a new Polaroid camera and replacement film…

Which he promptly assembled and took his first photo. Sam holding Nougat, both wearing their Santa hats.

Jack snapped a similar photo 12 months later.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are appreciated.
> 
> You can find me on Pillowfort at [dreamsfromthebunker](https://www.pillowfort.io/dreamsfromthebunker), Dreamwidth at [hit_the_books](https://hit-the-books.dreamwidth.org/), Tumblr at [hitthebooksposts](https://hitthebooksposts.tumblr.com/).


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